Predator and Prey
by Winged Element
Summary: Dante usually only takes missions that interest him and this one will certainly interesting. Between the devil hunter and the demon of the forest, who's the predator and who's the prey? Rated becuase of our favorite devil hunters' mouths.
1. DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU

A/N: Hello! I'm finally doing it! Finally starting that crossover that I said I'd do way back in the midst of Neko!Nero, and so here we are, months later and I'm sitting in the middle of the engineering campus's cafe and typing away. So yeah, I should probably stop rambling and get on with this whole shindig, this is my first crossover so we'll see how it goes...

Disclaimer: Thankfully Slendy isn't real, sadly, neither is Dante, and I own neither.

DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU

Dante didn't even so much as twitch as Lady barged in the door, the famed slayer was lying back in his chair, magazine over his face, typical. The raven haired huntress felt her eye twitch as she glared at the man in the chair, she knew that he heard her come in and now he was just ignoring her out of spite.

"Dante," she said, crossing her arms. Still the half devil didn't move a muscle. Lady was about to walk over there and shoot the bastard when a rather loud snore interrupted her, she whirled to see the source of the noise and saw Nero sprawled on the couch, headphones snugly over his ears, absolutely dead to the world.

When the huntress had her back turned, Dante lifted the magazine from it's place over his nose and looked at the teen sprawled on his couch. As annoying as the brat could be, it was fun having him around, originally the kid had come just to help with a few missions but eventually just ended up taking a job at the office and moving in. Kyrie visited often and the elder found a lot of fun in teasing the young couple and getting Kyrie to blush shyly and rile Nero up all at the same time.

"Kid had a late night." he said, causing Lady to whirl around again. She glared at him and he merely gave her the cocky grin he always did. At least, until her hand twitched toward her gun, not wanting to get shot the half devil swung his feet down onto the floor and leaned forward onto his desk.

"So what brings you here?" Dante asked, the huntress huffed before pulling a folder-full of papers out from under her arm.

"This." she said, tossing them onto the desk, to her misfortune some of them fluttered out of the folder and onto the floor causing an even wider grin to break across the elder slayer's face.

"Nice toss." he snickered, Lady glared as she slapped the flyaways back onto the desk.

"I need you to take this." she said, shoving the entire mess his direction, the half devil raised a brow before starting to sift through the papers. Most were newspaper clippings about missing people or local crazies ranting about alien sightings.

"What is this?" he asked "It just looks like a bunch of junk."

"You remember the forest fire in oakside park? The bodies of those two people, Lauren Andrews who had nothing to do with the area and the park ranger? The same sort of thing happened there, slightly smaller scale considering how unpopulated it was, but that didn't strike you as the least bit fishy?"

Dante said nothing, merely looked at his friend, the whole matter had struck him as incredibly off but sometimes human events were just that, off. Lady sighed and continued.

"Please, just check it out for me okay?" there was an honest look in her eyes that wasn't commonly there, it was then that Dante knew it was personal.

"Who's there?"

"What?"

"Who lives there that's important to you?" the huntress shook her head and smiled.

"Never could pull anything on you, it's my cousins, one of them just went missing." the half devil nodded, now beginning to study the papers before him closer.

"Why aren't you going yourself?" he asked without looking up.

"Well, I already have another job booked..."

"That's never stopped you before." Dante cut her off, Lady sighed

"Let's just say that we don't really get along, well at least their parents and I don't." The slayer nodded

"Alright, I'll take it, but I swear if I end up in more debt because of this..." The huntress gave him an honest smile

"Thanks Dante." The half devil simply waved his hand as she left, still inspecting the papers before him.

-Predator and Prey-

There were several quiet hours at Devil May Cry as Dante studied the information that Lady had given him, the only interruption being Nero's light snoring. With a sigh the elder threw the paper he'd been inspecting on the desk and stood up before walking over to the sleeping teen. The partial devil shuffled, unaware of his hunting partner standing over him, Dante grinned evilly before promptly digging his fingers into the teen's sides. Nero gave a very girly shriek before catching Dante under the chin with his Devil Bringer. The demonic limb launched the older man across the room and into the wall.

"Damn," Dante rubbed his jaw as the younger slayer stood, pure fury radiating off of him.

"What the hell old man?! What was that for?!" The half devil rolled to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Pack your bags kids, we're going on a mission." As soon as this left the elders mouth Nero brightened

"Really?" He asked

"Yeah, I'll fill you in on the way, so grab your stuff, we leave in twenty.

A/N: I'm finishing this on my phone XD I know slendy hasn't shown up yet but don't worry, he will soon :p anyway, I'm excited to get into the thick of this, especially after beating slender the arrival with my friends (apparently you can break the mine level cause I did it... ^.^;) anywho

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	2. LEAVE ME ALONE!

A/N: Hello everyone! It's currently 12:30 in the morning and I'm going to slam out this last chapter of the weekend so I may post relaxedly throughout the week, I hope that you guys will enjoy this crossover cause I know I'm going to (I've kind of already done it :p) after this I gotta shower and do dishes and get ready for tomorrow ^.^; heh, yeah talk about not being prepared. Well if sleep must be sacrificed to bring you fanfiction, so be it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Slendy or Dante, I'd love one and be terrified of the other.

Guest: Haha, yeah, I don't think you'll feel too bad for him by the end of this… he can kind of be a dick sometimes…. Thanks so much for the review though!

LEAVE ME ALONE

"So what's this all about?" Nero asked once they were in the car.

"There's been a lot of weird sightings and missing people in this town, a lot of people living near the woods have been weirdly sick too, most of the missing people had it before they disappeared." Dante explained.

"Who's our employer?" the teen asked, now curious, this mission sounded strange to say the least, not that most of their missions didn't sound at least a little strange.

"If you wanna get technical, Lady."

"Lady?! Lady _hired you_ to do something for you?! Why didn't she just threaten you with more debt?"

"Because this is personal, her cousin just went missing." The younger's expression immediately became serious as he digested the information just handed to him.

"Oh… so… how many missing people does this make?"

"Six."

"And we don't know what's causing it?"

"No."

"How will we find out?" Dante chuckled at this and looked over at his partner.

"Kid, your inexperience is showing." Nero's face darkened but the elder ignored him and continued. "Sometimes the demon isn't right up in your face or easily visible, sometimes we have to do a little of this fancy thing called research." Nero continued to glare and Dante just laughed.

-Predator and Prey-

Upon reaching the town the half devil noticed several things right away. One, there were very, _very_ few people out on the streets; two, those that were were rushing hurriedly about with nervous looks on their faces; and three, there was a very strange demonic presence in the air. It seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once, watching, waiting for your very own paranoia to drive you mad before it decided to strike. It made the hairs on the back on Dante's neck stand up and he shivered lightly as he tried to brush it off, it was thick enough that he was sure that the humans walking down the street could feel its eerie touches.

"What _is _that?" Nero asked from the passenger seat, his Devil Bringer was flaring so wildly that it could be seen through the wrappings and sling that he was wearing. Dante had seen it like that only one other time, and that was when he walked in on he and Kyrie passionately making out on the couch… now _that _had been a riot…

"I'm assuming that _that's _what we're hunting." The elder said, attempting to suppress another shiver.

"It hurts…" the teen mumbled, rubbing at his right arm. Dante looked at him in surprise for a moment before remembering that the partial devil was a heck of a lot more sensitive to demonic auras than he was.

"Powerful one ain't he?" he said as he drove up to the address that Lady had given him for her cousins.

The two slayers exited the car and walked up to the house; Dante knocked politely on the door and waited. Moments later an exhausted and sad looking mother opened the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked

"Hello ma'am, we're friends of Lady's, could we step in?"

"Lady?" the woman echoed before she seemed to realize who Dante was talking about "Oh, Mary… I suppose…" she held the door open and stepped aside, allowing the two white haired men to enter.

Once inside the woman sat on the couch and looked at the slayers wearily.

"My name's Cheri, what brings you two to this gloomy town?" the poor woman seemed to be falling apart, losing a child could do that to you, Dante had seen far too many parents lose their children to demons and devils.

"Well my name's Dante and this kid is my business partner Nero, and actually, Lady sent us here to help you. We're in the same kind of business as she…" Cheri let out a tired sigh and looked down at her clasped hands in her lap.

"I never believed her you know… the whole demon hunting deal… but now… now I'm not so sure, what with what everyone's been seeing and what happened the night Natalie went missing…" the two slayers looked at one another and Nero reached forward and put a hand over hers.

"We'll bring her back, okay?" he said "Can you tell us what happened though?" Cheri had tears in her eyes but nodded.

"We told her that it was dangerous, what with the disappearances and all but Natalie's just always had a fascination with the woods. And then she started making those drawing… and writing those weird things…"

"Do you have them?" Dante asked, Cheri nodded and went into what looked like the master bedroom before returning with a handful of paper. She spread them out on the coffee table and Nero felt his eyes widen at the frantic drawings of pines and a stick figure lurking within, of long and dark things swirling at a window, and most commonly repeated was a simple symbol. It was a circle with an 'X' through the middle, often accompanied by the word 'NO'.

"How old is she?" the elder asked and Nero didn't fail to notice that the half devil used a present tense, he assumed it was to make Cheri feel better and it seemed to work because she took a deep breath and said.

"She's twelve, she just wandered into the woods one night, walked away right in front of us and into the mist, we haven't seen her since…"

"You just let her go?" Nero asked

"No… you should've seen her face…" Cheri shivered and gave a light cough "it was like she was possessed… it was terrifying… I don't think any of us could've stopped her if we tried…"

A/N: This is a fantastic thing to write right before I go to bed… not. Yeah sleep isn't going to be easy cause now my brain's whirring with what happens next…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	3. ALWAYS WATCHES, NO EYES

A/N: Hello once more, I hope you're all doing well, I'm excited to be able to plow through this now and be able to sleep once I'm done, ahh sleep… I can't wait to greet you again… Though to be fair I did sleep for most of the day… woke up at noon, finished a book and then slept again until five… then played mgs2 and let me tell you that the end of that game is very much mind fucking… they kept subtly breaking the fourth wall and it was freaking me out… like the dog tags that Raiden had been wearing for like the entire game… they said Leigh. That's my name in case you didn't know, is it supposed to do that? Cause I don't recall telling the game what my name was… that and then in the mission that you have to do naked (don't ask and no I didn't see anything inappropriate, I would've enjoyed it more if all the shit hadn't hit the fan at that moment cause Raiden _is _one sexy guy…) but they kept saying, just give up and quit the game, you've been playing too long, don't sit that close to the TV you'll hurt your eyes… it was more than a little disturbing… anywho speaking of disturbing, let's get down to business shall we?

Disclaimer: Still none of the owns.

ALWAYS WATCHES, NO EYES

"Did you see anything strange when she left?" Dante asked, trying to keep his nerves calm, which was difficult considering the demonic aura that pushed down on the back of his mind. Cheri kept looking at the drawings on the table before sighing

"Just the mist and the trees, though I can't say that I've ever seen the trees look so thick before… thick and dark and intimidating…" there was a rather pregnant pause before Nero gave a small grunt of discomfort and tried to disguise it as a cough.

"You okay kid?" the elder asked, looking to his partner who was rubbing intently at his covered arm.

"I'm fine."

"Did you hurt your arm?" Cheri asked, looking at him, concerned. She paused, seeming to debate with herself if she should say what she wanted before continuing anyway. "Are you two sure that you'll be able to find Natalie…? I mean, you're injured…" Nero looked away and Dante simply smirked.

"Cheri, we've been doing what we've been doing for a long time, both of us are practically born to do this kind of thing, the kid's arm isn't actually hurt." He looked at the teen who gave him a questioning look

"Go on, show her, can't have her doubting us now can we?" the half devil said, Nero sighed but pulled his arm out of the sling. The glow from the demonic appendage was so bright that it showed through even the outermost layer of bandages. Cheri's eyes widened and the group heard a small gasp from the direction of the kitchen. The partial devil gave a small smile,

"Come on out, you deserve to know what's going on too." He said and then a girl not much younger than himself appeared from around the corner. She was the spitting image of her mother and could be none other than Natalie's sister.

"Stacey, what have I told you about eavesdropping?" her mother chided, seeming to revert back to what the two slayers assumed was what she was like before her second child was taken from her.

"I'm sorry mom but…"

"It's fine," Nero said "like I said, she deserves to know what's going on too." The teen was now unwrapping his right arm and the glow kept getting brighter and brighter as the layers disappeared. Finally the red hide and blue scales of his demonic arm were exposed to the air and the two women in the room stared.

"What is it…?" Stacey asked.

"It's my Devil Bringer," Nero answered "it's what's going to let me kill the thing that took your sister." He was about to continue when it flashed brighter, the demonic aura around them increasing in pressure, both Stacey and Cheri began to cough violently and Dante winced as he reached forward to make sure they were both okay. Nero would've done the same if it weren't for the sudden gust of wind that howled outside. The wind that seemed to speak to him.

_Foooooollliiisssshhhhhh aaaaaaahhhhhhnnnnndd aaarrroooooggaaaaahhhhnnnt puuup… yyyooooouuuu knnoooowwww noooottttthhhhiing oooooff whhhhiiich yoooouuu speeeeaaaakk…_

Nero gasped and whirled around, whipping out Blue Rose and pointing it at the window, turning in a slow and tense circle as he observed any and all exits to the house, he couldn't see anything out the windows not facing the street aside from fog and the branches of the trees. He narrowed his eyes as the branches seemed to sway and move in a way that seemed almost unnatural for them, his grip tightened on the gun. He was about to pull the trigger when Dante's voice snapped him from his battle instincts.

"Nero." The teen blinked and looked to the older slayer, who was watching him with concern.

"Sorry…" he mumbled, sliding the double barreled gun back into her holster and sitting down on the couch, though now he was as tense as steel.

"What just happened?" Cheri asked, looking between the two slayers with wide eyes.

"The aura that's hanging over town just intensified, I think it feels threatened by us." Dante said, still watching his partner from the corner of his eye, he'd question the kid later.

"Aura?" Cheri and her daughter echoed.

"It's typically something that only we as devil hunters, can sense, it usually allows us to feel the power and location of a demon. But this one's aura doesn't give it a location and it's so thick that I'm pretty sure you can feel it too." The half devil explained

"Is it that paranoid feeling?" Cheri asked and Dante nodded

"Like you're being watched?" he supplied and Stacey shivered violently.

"Natalie kept talking about that… she kept saying that she was being watched… that it watched her with no eyes…"

A/N: Aaaaaannnnnnd I am now officially disturbed by my own writing… I whispered the line that Nero heard out loud to myself (I do this a lot to check that things sound like speech when they should, especially when a character talks funny, like Agnus) and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I did… god I felt terrified and successful… Speaking of terrifying, my roommate and I managed to nearly give each other simultaneous heart attacks. I took a shower and came back in the room, I thought she was already asleep so I turned my desk light on toward the wall and she jackknifed upright because my turning on the light scared her but her leaping up scared the shit out of me… we laughed about it but jeez! Thought something was gonna kill me there for a second…

Till next time,

-Winged Elment


	4. HELP ME!

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter of Predator and Prey! I'm typing this at eight in the morning and have the blinds drawn in the room and I just switched off my desk light ;p can't have myself get too comfortable while I'm writing now can I? I've discovered it's easier to type creepily when the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end XD I'm gonna keep looking over my shoulder as I'm walking to Japanese this morning but it'll be so worth it :p Speaking of Japanese, that class makes me feel _so _awesome, I was watching Hellsing Ultimate and picking up lines as they were speaking as well as when things get flashed on the screen, I can read them! I typically have no comprehension of what's being said but I can read the words, despite being a slow reader. It makes me feel like a little kid again, learning how to read all over, it's a pretty cool feeling :3 I just recently memorized how to write my name so I really feel like a little kindergartener, learning to write their own name XD Anywho, time for creepiness!

Disclaimer: Foolish disclaimer, I have no need of you!

Karl. A: I like the concept too :) I'm glad you like my writing, it makes me happy when people like it, I hope a week isn't too long of a wait for you :p Thanks for the review!

HELP ME!

"It watched her with no eyes?" Nero asked, still trying to forget the whistling and echoing voice that had run through his head. Stacey nodded and pointed to one of the drawings; this one had a man in it, a stick figure with no face. When he'd seen it for the first time, Nero had assumed that it was just a stick figure, most stick people didn't have faces after all, but now that she pointed it out, it was a little more than your average stick person, you could tell it was wearing a tie and at the bottom in frantic letters was the message: He watches me… He has no face… The teen shivered, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, this wasn't your average mission, he could tell already.

"I don't know what exactly took your daughter, but we'll get her back." Dante assured, though he had an uneasy feeling about this mission too, something about it struck him as incredibly wrong, this wasn't your run of the mill take over the world type of demon, it seemed to enjoy toying with its victims, it was the dangerous kind, the kind that had no goal but to receive sick enjoyment from the suffering of others. Cheri nodded and took a deep breath before asking.

"Do you two have anywhere to stay?" some of the tension lifted at the mundane question. The slayers shook their heads and Lady's aunt nodded to herself, muttering under her breath, so low that even the two partial devils in the room couldn't hear it.

"Well, I can set you up in the spare bedroom while you're here, you'll have to share the bed." She informed them, Nero groaned lightly and Dante snickered.

"What?" she asked, glancing between the two men.

"This asshole thinks it's funny to use me as a teddy bear." The teen growled, throwing his elbow in the direction of the elder slayer, who started wheezing as he tried to laugh despite having the end of the kid's Devil Bringer shoved into his ribs.

"Not my fault you're so cuddle-able!" he snickered, Nero threw him a death glare before standing.

"I'll go get the stuff out of the car."

"Hey! You're not touching my baby!" the half devil followed him. Stacey assumed that the man was talking about the car itself, as did her mother but was proved wrong when the two men walked back inside with a bag apiece and two _massive_ swords. Nero had his slung over his shoulder and Dante had his stuck to his back as if by magic. The two women in the room stared before Cheri leapt up and led the two to the spare room, eyeing the swords the whole while, more concerned that one of them would knock it into the wall than anything but both slayers had been at this for a while, both knew how to manage their blades.

-Predator and Prey-

"So kid, what happened down there?" Dante asked when they were alone, unpacking their meager supplies. Nero instinctively shivered as he recalled the voice from the trees.

"It felt like the woods was calling to me…" he said softly, Dante's eyes snapped to him, watching him carefully.

"What?"

"It spoke to me…"

"Spoke? What'd it say?"

"It said that I was foolish and arrogant, that I had no idea what I was talking about."

"You think it was the demon?"

"I don't know what else it could be." Nero said, plopping down on the bed and settling Red Queen between his knees, about to clean her up and make sure that the Exceed System was all ready to go.

"Don't worry about it too much," Dante ruffled the younger's hair, earning an irritated glare before heading out the room, presumably to talk with Cheri some more. He hadn't been gone long before Nero felt eyes watching him, he looked up into the doorway to see Stacey standing there, watching him shyly.

"What're you doing?" she asked when he noticed her.

"Cleaning out the Queen's systems, making sure that when we head out tonight that she'll light up like I need her to."

"What? Queen?"

"That's my sword's name, Red Queen, it's not a demonic blade like Dante's Rebellion or Yamato but she's been my companion for a long time and she does her job well. She's got fuel that I can send down the blade and then ignite, a flaming blade is a hell of a lot more effective against more demons." He smiled as he cleaned out the delicate piping, the action always soothed his mind, it was second nature and felt productive while he was at it. There were several more moments of silence before Stacey said.

"You heard it?" Nero froze, turning to look at the girl beside him.

"Heard…what…?" he asked, just trying to confirm that Stacey was indeed talking about what he thought she was.

"The demon, I heard you talking to your partner, I hear it too sometimes, it whispers to me just before I fall asleep… it tells me to go into the woods… asks if I want to be reunited with my sister… says that we'll all play together… play together to the end of time… just one… big… game of… hide and seek…" the teen's voice grew flat and her eyes started to lose focus before she blinked and shook her head. She bit her lip and clenched her hands, looking down at her lap.

"Does this happen a lot?" Nero asked, leaning forward so he could meet her eyes, she was trying very hard not to cry and nodded.

"Is it happening more now?" he asked, she nodded again, tears beginning to leak from her eyes before she reached over and latched herself onto the partial devil. Nero turned to stone for a second before doing what he always did for Kyrie whenever she was upset, he stroked her hair lightly and told her that it would all be okay.

"I can feel it getting into my mind…" she whispered "I'm scared… I don't want to get lost like Natalie…"

"It'll be okay…" the demonic teen whispered "Dante and I are going to take care of things…"

-Predator and Prey-

It was several hours later and Nero had left Stacey asleep on the couch where her mother could watch her.

"Is she gonna be okay?" he asked Dante as they gathered up their weaponry.

"She'll be fine, the effects'll fade as soon as the demon's dead."

"Okay…"

"C'mon kid!" the half devil slapped him on the back and grinned. "We're going to do what we love, go out, save the ladies, and kill the little shits that show themselves in this realm." The pair stepped outside the back door and looked into the woods.

_Yooooouuu wiiilllll nooooot essssscaaappee…. _The trees whispered. This time Dante stiffened as well, hearing the voice that Nero had heard earlier.

_Yooooouuuu aaaaarrrrrreeeee miiinnnne nooooowwww…_ the wind whistled, the words physically meeting their ears now in a cruel mockery of a voice. Nero growled fiercely and revved the sword on his back. Dante grinned, cruel and savage, ready for a fight.

"I don't think so you bastard, bring it on." He said as the two walked into the trees and were swallowed by the mist.

A/N: Still creepy? I think so :) Also tense, very much tense… Oh I can't wait to get into the next chapter cause _then _we're getting into the thick of things :) Oh! Oh! I have something I wanna tell you guys! I have a fourth floor admirer! My name is on a board on the fourth floor that asks who your perfect valentine date would be! And it was on WMU Crushes too (it's a twitter thing, my roommate found it on there) and it was signed "Your fourth floor admirer"! I wanna know who it is! But alas I won't even be in Kalamazoo on Valentine's Day so if they were planning to say something then… they are sadly out of luck. But anyway! Exciting mystery!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	5. FOLLOWS

A/N: Yo! What's up? Feelin super epic right now cause it's Tuesday and this chapter doesn't come out until next Thursday :D I am _so _on top of things right now! _Yeah!_ Also cappuccinos… they're my best friend and the only reason I won't crash between now and my class and 4.5 mile run… yup. Anywho I don't think I'll hang around in the A/N too long (I feel like my A/Ns get shorter when I'm typing chapters back to back… hmm… probably cause I just typed one forty five minutes ago and not much has happened since then…) I've got lots to get to in this chappie :3 Oh it's going to be so fun and creepy :3

Disclaimer: Despite living next to a dark forest I have yet to see any Slendermen… so there've been none for me to own. And despite cosplaying Trish I haven't managed to be able to claim a certain Dante as mine yet ;p

John: Yes actually he does, in the last level of Slender: The Arrival, he talks to Kate, it's just words put up on the screen so you don't actually hear his voice, but he does talk. As for the whole transcends reality, I'm not sure I quite know what you mean. Either way I'm going off of the games, Slender: The Eight Pages and Slender: The Arrival, in those there isn't a lot of established cannon so I'm taking quite a bit of creative liscense, plus Dante's taken on the king of the underworld, it might be pushing it to say he's out of his league. Thanks for the review.

Guest: hahaha, yeah, don't worry he will, thanks for the review!

Karl. A: yeah, it'll be up on Wednesday anyway though :p it'll be awesome! Thanks for the review!

FOLLOWS

The mist immediately made things eerie, it didn't matter that it was only early evening, the trees and the mist caused it to be completely black within the forest. Nero was glad that he had his Devil Bringer and that Dante had brought flashlights for the both of them.

"Dante," the teen started, looking for the older man only to find that he'd disappeared, Nero's eyes widened and he began casting around with his mind to locate the half devil by his demonic aura but all he could feel was the stifling thick presence of the demon of the forest swirling around him. It made him dizzy enough that he started to actively ignore his sense of demonic auras, despite it causing his Devil Bringer to dim quite a bit.

"Dante…?" he called out tentatively, instead he just heard a small giggle, and the partial devil whirled around, looking for the source of the laugh. The only thing that he could see that was out of the ordinary in the fog was a paper on the ground. He bent over and picked it up seeing a crudely and rapidly drawn stick figure with a strange looking arm, after a moment's inspection the teen realized that it was a drawing of _him_ and that it was supposed to be his Devil Bringer on the page. Who could've drawn him? He'd only been in the woods for a few minutes, the drawing was obviously done very quickly but still… who and why? The partial devil's sharp eyes scanned the area around him, but still he found nothing… Wait… There! There'd been the tiniest amount of motion just up and ahead of him, black against more black and covered with fog but motion all the same.

He tried searching out an aura but could it was still the all surrounding oppressive presence. As he moved forward he heard the giggle again, it sounded like a young boy, but this time he heard footsteps over the dry grass as well, the teen's head snapped to the direction he'd heard them and he rushed over only to stop when his foot hit another paper. He stopped and picked it up, it was a picture of him again but this time surrounded by an obvious aura, one that looked vaguely like… Nero's eyes widened as he recognized his own Devil Trigger in the simplistic drawing, how was that possible? Outside of his Trigger in the drawing were waves of shadows and they seemed to be reaching for him. The partial devil shivered, suddenly cold, he looked around again, hoping for another flash of motion. He wasn't wrong in looking it was there again, that laugh, now that he listened closer he could sense something just… off about it, it was slightly manic, like the one who'd made it wasn't really there anymore… Nero scooped up the paper as he went this time, following the footsteps and quickly closing in on the dark motion ahead of him, his Devil Bringer was shining brightly now as adrenalin pumped through his veins.

"Stop!" he called when he could make out a human like figure in the fog. The figure froze and when the teen caught up enough to make out more details he froze as well, fear grabbing at his heart. Despite all his years as a demon slayer he'd never seen anything like this before, he'd seen people possessed but… he wasn't sure if this thing before him classified as human anymore, it was virtually a skeleton, you could count every rib and its skin was practically grey. The two remained motionless for another moment before the figure turned around and Nero's eyes widened as he met the blank sockets of the creature's gaze. Its mouth hung open, the jaw seeming stuck open and its teeth were rotting and falling out. As the teen remained trapped in its eyeless gaze tendrils of darkness… or maybe it was fog, snaked out and around the creature, some of them pausing to caress it as they ghosted past as if to praise the creature.

The pressure suddenly intensified tenfold on the partial devil and he dropped to his knees, hacking and coughing as the air became difficult to breathe. As he fell, Nero finally noticed the drawing in his hands, it was of him again but this time he was twisted up in the dark tendrils and beneath the drawing was written.

CAN'T ESCAPE

-Predator and Prey-

Meanwhile Dante had lost track of the teen almost immediately, the kid disappearing into the fog a few steps in and the half devil hadn't stopped looking for him since. He'd been trying without success to sort out the younger's aura from the massive intensity of the forest demon's. Though in amongst this he had found that it seemed to be concentrated in one area and he began heading that direction, finding things stuck to the trees along the way. Note's much like the ones that Natalie had drawn before wandering into the woods but some were much more eerie as they seemed to be of a monster getting killed by darkness. Dante's eyes widened as he realized what they were just before he heard a scream in the distance… that sounded like…

"NERO!" the elder dashed off in the partial devil's direction dropping the drawing of himself in demon form being overcome by the darkness of the forest…

A/N: Ohhhhhh…. I have such shivers down my spine right now… maybe that's just cause I have to pee but… oh man this is fantastic… I'm enjoying it so much right now… So creepy! I love it!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	6. NO NO NO NO NO NO

A/N: Okay, okay, soooo… I'm super duper late on this so I'll just cut right to the chase and make no excuses, you guys will get two chapters tonight plus those of you that keep up on To See From Another's Eyes will get the final chapter of that as well! Also! Anyone whose review that I missed from Family of Happenstance before this week's double feature, I AM SOO SORRY! I'll reply to those next update, I missed them as my inbox is kinda chalk full right now… Anywho, I've got a great atmosphere set up for myself, I'm currently in an unfamiliar, dark (as it _is _nighttime) living room, playing my horror soundtrack from my writing music playlist, and I just got done watching Cry play Slender: The Eight Pages… yup, I'm about to terrify myself… yippee *sweatdrop*

Disclaimer: Yeah… about that…

NO NO NO NO NO NO

Dante tore through the forest as quickly as he could but it never seemed fast enough, in fact he just felt like he was going in circles, the trees kept looking the same, the ground never changed… the sky was invisible to even his eyes… he had to… he had to reach… There was the sound of a girl crying, not just any girl, a young girl… The half devil stopped, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling, there was something off about her cries… they were choked, they sounded as though she had to fight to get them out of her chest. The elder followed the sound until he came to a large tree; there, amongst its roots, was the little girl, she was curled into a ball, her face in her hands.

She's just a kid, Dante thought to himself, and it was this thought that set his mind back on track, the kid, he had to find Nero… he lifted his head skyward looking for the teen's aura, his scent, anything… In his moment of distraction the girl stopped, her body frozen, she looked up just as Dante looked back at her, he had enough time to realize, that's Natalie, before she opened her mouth and screamed.

-Predator and Prey-

Nero stared in horror at the monstrosity before him, he'd screamed at first, before his battle instincts had kicked in. There was just something about this _thing _that bypassed any logical nature that you had or had set up, something about it that just automatically triggered that _flight _instinct in your brain. The partial devil felt like he had to physically force himself to not tremble, to not scream again. As a devil himself his first instinct would always be to fight, and as a bull-headed human it would be to fight even if the enemy was stronger. Not in this situation though, not here… not like this… he… just… couldn't… fight it…

_I tooooollld yoooouuuu puuuuup. Yooooouuuu beeelllloooonnng toooo meeeee… _The nightmare drew an inky black tentacle across the skeletal creature's face and it leaned into the touch, relishing it, happy that it had pleased its master. A waving appendage came close to the teen's head and this act of degradation riled him up enough to snap to his hands and knees and let of a low growl, his Devil Bringer flashing brighter.

"I belong to _no one._" He snapped, swiping out at the mockery of a man, only to see it vanish before his eyes, no poof, no noise, just one second there, the next it was not. Nero felt his spine crawl when something silky smooth touched his cheek and he whirled around to see the monster behind him. Despite the lack of features on its face, it seemed to be grinning at him.

_So much spunk in you pup… I like it. You have a great deal of power too, power I could use… _The voice didn't whisper from the winds any longer, instead the teen could feel it crawling around the inside of his skull, as violating and disturbing as the inky darkness had been against his cheek. Nero struggled to his feet, glaring at the nightmare before him all the while.

_"My power is_ _mine._" The partial devil growled, on the verge of Triggering.

_Seems I will have to break you like I did with the others, I will have fun with this…_

"Wha…?" he had time to utter before everything went black

-Predator and Prey-

Nero had been so caught up in the events happening directly around him that he took no notice of the shrill scream that pierced the air nor of the disappearance of the skeletal creature that had lured him so far into the forest. But all the same the human skeleton, Charlie as he'd been known in his human life, or boy as his master liked to call him, was headed in the direction of the scream, likely it was the new girl that his master picked up. His master was fond of girls, he said they were easier to break, children especially. When Charlie had asked if that's why he'd taken him when he was young, his master had said it was. Master had told him that he'd had an especially keen sense of the forest, of the happenings that no one else saw and that was why he'd been chosen. This made Charlie puff up his chest a little and later, when he and the other had laid down to rest, he'd boasted to the girls about it. The girls respected him and gave him space, because despite being older than him, he'd had his eyes opened sooner, given up more to truly be able to see what was around him… Kate more so than Lauren, Lauren cried too much… she had taken longer to break than the others and yet… it had been so. Much. Fun. She didn't see the fun in it yet, but give her time and she would… oh she would… Just like the new boy that his Master had selected…

A/N: Okay… damn I kinda wanna turn on a light before I start the next chapter but that would ruin the experience… this is getting so creepy, I never thought about what it would be like to be one of the proxies… holy shit as soon as I started to get into Charlie's head… *shivers* btw, Charlie is the skeletal lookin like freaky shit you run into in the prologue of The Arrival, if you haven't played the steam update of The Arrival, do it. Now. Or watch someone do it. Because it is some of the greatest freaky shit that you will see in a while.


	7. CAN'T RUN

A/N: Okay, yeah, my music is officially getting really, _really _creepy and I'm so ready to get on with things and type some calming juicy yaoi (okay maybe yaoi isn't that calming but… you get my point!) and then go to sleep… yup. I'm officially creeped out of my skin…

Disclaimer: I wonder if the actual owners, who are not me, get this creeped out while designing Slender: The Arrival, DMC isn't creepy, but it's too awesome for me to own…

CAN'T RUN.

"_No, no, shh… it'll be okay_…" Dante held his hands out in a calming gesture at the girl, her scent drifting his way and confirming that she was, indeed, Natalie.

"NO! You're a monster!" She screamed and the devil hunter paused, not drawing any closer, he had quite a bit of experience with traumatized kids, he had to in his line of work, kids would get scared of anything that moved after being attacked and dragged away by demons. He squatted, trying to make himself appear smaller and tried to meet her eyes.

"_It's…"_ he trailed off when he felt his tail slide over the ground, the half devil paused and looked down at himself, when had he taken on his devil form…? He couldn't recall, this forest was messing with his brain, with a flash of red lightning it fell away and he started again with the little girl.

"It's okay, I'm a good guy, I'm gonna take you back to your sister and mommy and daddy, okay…?" the girl shook her head.

"They don't know… they don't know what I see… only Master can help with what I see and you're not him." Master…? Dante thought to himself, but now was not the time to be questioning the girl.

"Don't you miss them? Isn't that why you were crying?"

"Yes… but I can't go back…."

"Why not?"

"Master says I can't." she whispered, the half devil huffed, he could barely make out something approaching them, it felt human, _almost._ This little girl was small enough… he resumed his demon form and scooped the girl up in his arms, ignoring her kicks and screams.

_"I'll deal with your master." _He growled, just then _something_ skidded to a stop from between the trees, it looked human, well in the loosest meaning of the word. It stared at him with empty eye sockets and simply pointed at the girl in his arms. Dante flared his wings and snarled at the thing, it let out an odd moan and then leapt at him but the red devil was too fast, he leapt into the air and clawed his way above the trees, fighting the squirming and kicking girl in his arms the whole way. He was pretty sure that she even bit him a few times, but it was well worth it once he burst through the tree cover and into the bright moonlight. Once above the forest the slayer could see how large it was and how thickly doused in the demon's control it was. Natalie had quit struggling and gone unconscious the second he pulled her through the top of the trees but he wasn't sure how long that'd last. What on earth, or in hell, could create something so utterly eerie…? Dante didn't have an answer as he sped back to the house to drop the girl where she belonged.

-Predator and Prey-

Where am I…? Nero thought to himself when consciousness returned to him. He sat up and looked around, it was dark, but the area around him was lit with the light of a nearly full moon. He seemed to be…

"Shit." Nero muttered to himself. He was on a tiny, _tiny _spit of land in the middle of a rather large pond, not large enough to call a lake but almost. The former Holy Knight was no foreigner to swimming, growing up on a tropical island would do that to you but in these circumstances… he'd rather not touch the water… The teen got to his feet and walked to the edge and looked in, trying to see the bottom, the first couple inches were clear but beyond that…? Nothing but inky black… He cast about with his mind and for a fleeting second he felt Dante's presence and then it was once more overwhelmed by the aura of the monstrosity that he'd met earlier. The partial devil noticed that Red Queen's comforting weight was absent from his back and swore violently when realizing Blue Rose wasn't resting on his thigh either, he didn't even have the damn flashlight that Dante'd given him.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" he muttered when he spotted his beloved blade stuck into the sand across the pond. There was no choice now… it was swim or wait till morning, and something told him that the creature forcing him to play this game wouldn't let him wait till the sun rose, it'd have him back in that black foggy forest by the time dawn struck one way or another. With a slightly shaky sigh the teen hooked his boots off his feet and began wading in the water. As soon as he did he heard a loud crack from the woods to his left and a slight screech, Nero peered across the pond as best he could but it was darker that way and even _his _vision was of no help. After another deep breath he braved the cold darkness that the pond had to offer and dove in.

A/N: Okay, a slight break in the creepy and a little short but I'm sorry, with this music and darkness and unfamiliar-ness of this house, after about an hour I started seeing things… that's not a good thing… no siree… so I am very, very done with this until tomorrow when I'm typing in the car and can be a little calmer cause there's, y'know, other people around, I'll type it in the early morning so it'll still be dark but it'll be a little less creepy, y'know? And on another note, there's actually probably only another couple chapters of this left, I never intended it to be long, maybe I'll just make the last chapter extra long and then it won't go above eight… which I feel would be a little fitting… hmm… *is desperately trying to calm nerves…*

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	8. Monster Among the Pines

A/N: Hey guys, it's a nice grey dawn right now and about quarter to seven in the morning, I'm absent the good creepy music that I had last night but let's see what kind of nightmares my imagination can dredge up now, I think I'm just going to go at this chapter until the fic is done so this may end up being much longer than your average chapter, but then again, it may not… so let's get started shall we?

Disclaimer: I think I'm getting as much sleep as the average game maker, that's for sure…

Monster Among the Pines

"Natalie!" Cheri exclaimed when Dante knocked on the door, her father, whom the half devil hadn't met yet, was standing behind his wife, looking amazed yet tired.

"You might want to tie her down." The slayer said and both adults looked at him with horrified expressions

"What are you…" Dante raised his palm and cut Cheri's husband off

"I had to drag her kicking and screaming from that forest, whatever's keeping her there doesn't want her to leave, I'm afraid that she'll hurt herself…" with that he turned and looked out into the forest, wondering where Nero was and if he was okay. The half devil had to keep reminding himself that Nero was a tough kid and he'd get through this all right… that didn't stop the worries in the back of his mind though…

"Where are you going?" Cheri asked, Dante just looked over his shoulder and said

"To get Nero." Before Triggering and taking off, he seemed to have better luck above the trees than amidst them, when he was in that fog and repetitive landscape it cloyed at his mind and made him sluggish, neither of those things would be productive or helpful when it came to finding the kid.

"C'mon Nero…" Dante whispered "Where are you…?"

-Predator and Prey-

Nero felt every muscle in his body tighten as he took long powerful strokes through the water, trying not to think about what could possibly be underneath him at any given moment, what that watery darkness could be hiding… His head snapped to the left when he heard that _thing_ again, whatever it was, it certainly wasn't human but strangely its aura said otherwise, the teen was confused until the thought of that disturbing skeletal creature came to his mind again, what had that thing been…? Human? Demon? Somewhere in between…? Nero didn't know and didn't want to think about it. Though it's hard to keep something off your mind when that very thing is making noise not far from you and making it loud; the partial devil was so distracted by the growls and shrieks that came from the woods that he didn't at first notice the feeling of something poking at his toes. Another tickle and Nero jolted back to awareness, he kicked his foot hard and felt it connect with something under the water. A massive shiver ran down his spine, and it wasn't from the cold, something was down there, he had _known _there would be something down there! He'd stayed up watching enough horror flicks with Dante to know that there was _always _something in the creepy dark water. As soon as these thoughts were through his head the thing grabbed his ankle and pulled him under.

The partial devil felt his shocked breath leave him in a trail of bubbles, he pulled his body toward whatever had him by the leg with the intent of clawing it off with his Devil Bringer. What he didn't expect to encounter, however, was a girl with dark hair and a pale face, from what he could tell in the murky water, one side was marred with what looked like burn marks and long, deep scars. Any air that was left in his lungs swiftly left as the teen let out a small shout of surprise, the noise muffled by the water around him. In his startled panic he Triggered, the shockwave knocking the girl off and the energy enough to allow him to make it to shore in a few scant seconds.

Nero panted on his hands and knees for a moment, trying to regain what semblance of sanity he had remaining. When he looked back out at the water he saw the top of the girl's head, her eyes reflecting back the light of his Devil Bringer. She didn't move any closer but neither did she turn to leave. The teen shivered, what the hell was sh… he didn't get to finish his thought as he heard footsteps crunching on the sand behind him. He whirled, grabbing the closest thing off the sand and pointing it at his attacker, said thing happened to be the flashlight and the beam fell on his attacker. The other girl stopped maybe ten feet away and hissed, shielding her eyes from the bright light. She took her hand down and then the light hit her eyes once more and she hissed and recoiled again, Nero couldn't help himself, he snickered.

"You're not the sharpest tool in the shed now are you?" he asked when she repeated the action once more. The partial devil carefully kept the beam trained on the girl while he knelt and retrieved both Red Queen and Blue Rose before cursing and realizing that he'd dropped his boots in the lake when he'd been attacked. He looked at the girl caught in his flashlight beam, she wore a plain mask, with her eyes and mouth outlined in black, though the latter had no slot or opening of any kind. Blood splattered her hands and formerly white hoodie, the sight of blood on white reminding the teen of Credo and he felt his heart pang. Then he shook his head and stood up straight and stared his enemy in the eyes, just as his adoptive brother would have done, the partial devil smirked as the girl recoiled again, not seeming to understand that if she stopped shirking away, her eyes would adjust to the light.

"I don't suppose you'll tell your friend to nicely bring my boots back huh?" all he got in response was an animalistic snarl. Grouchy and fed up, the partial devil snarled back, this seemed to startled the girl, quite a bit actually, she paused, blinking at him from behind her mask before realizing that the flashlight no longer hurt and leaping straight at the teen who fired a warning shot that did nothing and startled no one but himself.

Nero felt all of his breath leave him in a big whoosh as the knife he hadn't seen in the girl's hand plunged into his gut. She proceeded to scratch at his face a few times before leaping from his body and vanishing into the forest.

"Ouch…" the devil hunter groaned, putting a hand to the wound as it slowly started to heal, it had happened so quickly… why hadn't she just finished him off when she had the chance…? Nero sighed and walked into the forest and was quickly surrounded by dark trees and fog once more…

-Predator and Prey-

Hours rolled by slowly and Nero's internal clock told him that it should long since be day but the forest remained stubbornly dark and foggy, he'd collected a few drawings and other scraps of paper, things left around by people when the woods hadn't been a place of fear. Why were people so afraid of the woods again…? In amidst all his wanderings he'd somewhat forgotten why he was here… There was a girl that chased him, like a dangerous game of tag, he'd been tagged a few times and had chased her down, inflicting a minor injury in return, the last time she'd spoken to him for the first time, her voice echoing pleasantly in his head when she mentally touched him…

_It's fun isn't it…? It's always like this, you're good at it too, some newcomers don't understand…_ The next time she caught him and tackled him to the ground, Nero couldn't help himself, he started giggling and left his hands over his head in a gesture of surrender. She giggled back, the sound distorted behind her mask. Nero didn't think he just asked, his head felt thick and fuzzy anyway, everything just had a fun shiny coating over it. It was almost like when he really let loose on his demonic instincts, it was all play, it was all a game, except that was always a little serious, this wasn't, this was just pure unadulterated fun…

_Are there other newcomers? _He didn't know how he connected his mind with hers, but it didn't matter, it worked and that was all that mattered. The girl, the chaser, he somehow knew, daintily got off of him and lifted her mask to the blotted out sky.

_Not right now, there was a little girl but the red monster took her away, at least that's what the boy told me._

_ Boy…?_

_ The one who's been with our master the longest, he has the best connection to the forest and what happens in it. The one who's changed the most. _The Chaser replied, looking back down from the branches to Nero, who had a sudden flash of a skeletal looking boy in his mind, where had he seen him before again…? The teen flexed his claws, looking at them in mild fascination as the color pulsed from blue through green to yellow and back again.

_It changes color?_ The chaser asked, warily pointing at the glowing limb, she didn't like the light, it hurt too much, the white haired teen wondered why this information kept flowing into his head but didn't question it.

_I guess…_ and then with a cruel grin he swiped out with them and The Chaser hissed, leaping back, though when she looked at him her eyes were smiling in their own strange flat way. The game was back on, the teen couldn't remember why he was here, who he was, or how long he'd been here, but it didn't matter, the game was on…

-Predator and Prey-

It wasn't long until the two were joined by others, the game was a strange and dangerous mixture of hide and seek and tag and capture the flag. The boy, the skeletal looking male with empty eye sockets seemed to be the best, much to the clawed teen's surprise. Then he remembered what The Chaser had said, the boy had been around the longest; he knew when and where the strange openings in space would happen, he knew every tree root and every leaf, and would disappear behind one tree only to appear elsewhere, generally behind one of them and get in a good tag or would rearrange their papers. To the teen the system of who was winning by where the papers were made perfect sense, to anyone else, it looked like the papers were disappearing and reappearing with no order whatsoever. That's how ghostly they moved, until the boy would tag one of them from behind, then there'd be a shriek of laughter or a sharp cry of pain and all would be silent again.

The teen was enjoying himself greatly until the other girl showed up, she refused to join in the game and the teen couldn't understand why, couldn't she see how much fun this was? When The Chaser approached her she backed away, shaking her head, speaking strangely from her mouth.

"No, no, no… don't touch me…"

_Pet…_

"Shut up! I am not a pet! My name is Lauren! Lauren! Don't you remember Kate?!" she grabbed The Chaser by her shoulders and she let off a fierce growl, raking sharp nails across the other girl's face, she collapsed and strange choking sounds came from her and her shoulders heaved. The teen tilted his head and looked to the boy who knew he was looking and met the teen's eyes with his own orbless sockets.

_She is the Master's pet, she has a hard time letting go of her previous life, her breaking was… harder than most and she refuses to see the fun in the games we played…_

_ Previous life?_

_ When she was human, that is why she cries, that is why breaks the beauteous silence of the trees, that is why she speaks aloud. _The teen looked at his hands, one soft and pale peach, the other hard and red and blue with a glow that was slowly fading to red.

_Was I human? _Bony hands traced over his glowing arm as the boy tilted his head from one side to another.

_I do not know, I saw you in your previous life but I cannot say if you were human… _the boy seemed about to continue but was stopped by the feeling of a heavy presence, thick and warm, as though an old quilt had been thrown over all of them. They turned and saw the Master standing there, his eye-less face taking them all in, he turned his 'gaze' to The Chaser and Pet.

_What happened?_ His voice was gentle but stern in their heads.

_She refuses to forget master…_ the Chaser replied, Pet looked up and saw the Master and shrieked, backing up as fast as she could but the master's inky black tentacles grabbed her before she could go too far.

"NO!NO! LET ME GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" the other three winced at the volume of her shrieks.

_Pet… I warned you what would happen if you didn't let go, you have an incredible opportunity here, why do you waste it…?_

"I am not your pet! You're a monster!" She was still screaming when the master took her away, disappearing without a trace.

It was only a few moments later when he returned, his attention focused on the teen now, who watched with curious eyes, as the master reached out with a white hand and ran it gently over his face. The teen wasn't sure why the urge overcame him but it did and he turned and bit the hand violently, sharp teeth easily drawing blood. Instead of the reprimand he was expecting, laughter echoed in his head.

_Despite having given in you can't help but challenge anything that's set in front of you tcan you my little challenger? _A silver brow shot upward over bright crimson eyes in curiosity. _Let's see how far you will go… I have a challenge for you, _the Master raised his head, _for all of you. There is a man I need you to play with, I need him as scared and unsettled as you can make him, and then you, little challenger, shall go and fight him, I will help you when it becomes too much…_

_ I'm strong! I'm plenty strong! _The teen protested

_And for as strong as you are, he is stronger still._

-Predator and Prey-

Dante was worried sick over the kid, it'd been almost a day and a half and Nero was still nowhere to be found. He'd gone in shifts of flying over the forest and walking inside it, trying to find his younger partner, it was almost like the teen didn't want to be found. The half devil was currently walking in the trees and for the past two hours had had this nagging feeling of slight, mostly human auras darting around him, it was like he was being watched and the elder slayer didn't like it one bit. He paused and felt something hit his head, at first he blew it off as a leaf or a drop of water but when one became two then three, the smell that struck his nose made him pause. It was coppery and sharp, it was blood.

"No…" Dante looked up and saw a body horrifically impaled on the tree branches above him. The brown hair assured him that it was not his hunting partner but that didn't make it any less worse. The trees were scaled in seconds and he saw it was a young woman, her eyes twitched over to him and the half devil realized with horror that she was still alive.

"Hold on!" he said, frantically looking in different directions for how she'd become so entangled and impaled to help him get her off. Her fingers touched his knee, the closest thing to her, there was a blood choked giggle and the words.

_Found you…_ echoed in his head and then she became still.

"Dammit!" the slayer swore, he did the best he could to get her down and closed her eyes once she was laying on the ground.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." He said, now more determined than ever to find Nero. As soon as this thought ran through his head he heard a vicious growl behind him, one that he recognized. Dante whirled around only to see something that only vaguely resembled his hunting partner.

"Nero…?" he asked, the teen was dirty and his Devil Bringer was now pulsing a deep crimson to match his eyes which seemed blank and absent.

Nero made no response, simply swung at him, his typical weapons missing; Dante sidestepped the attack.

"Nero! Kid! Come back! You're stronger than this thing!" the half devil was now actively dodging and trying to get the younger to back down as well. Nero was showing no recognition to any of the elder's attempts at reaching him, mentally. What Dante didn't expect though was to be grabbed from behind by what appeared to be inky black tentacles. He swung Rebellion behind himself, freeing himself from the imprisonment only to turn around and see an enraged… well the elder wasn't quite sure what to call this thing, it was a faint mockery of a man, a man in a suit, only this monster had no face and was far taller than any man that Dante had ever seen. If that wasn't enough the tentacles emanated from this creature, roiling up from the ground around its shadow as well.

In his distraction the half devil received a good clawing from Nero's Devil Bringer down his back, Dante cursed and did the best he could to fend off both his hunting partner and this new monstrosity. Even for the great son of Sparda this was a bit much, two enemies of this caliber was no problem, the problem was trying to fend off one while not hurting him. Finally he'd gotten a good enough swing in at the monster that it teleported off for a moment. That moment was enough for Dante to turn and run the kid through with Rebellion. He knew Nero would survive, and despite the blade in his gut the teen was still fighting tooth and nail to get his claws into the half devil. Dante grabbed the partial devil's shoulder and stared into those eyes that glared such hate back at him.

"Nero. Remember. Remember me? Remember the obnoxious guy dressed in red with the bad jokes?" the tiniest bit of confusion came across the teen's face. "Good to know that's how you remember me kid," the elder grumbled to himself before continuing. He could feel the presence of the creature behind him but for whatever reason it hadn't moved to attack him. "C'mon Nero, come back to me."

_Iiiiiit iiiiiissss hoooopeelllleeesssss, ssssssooooonnn ooooofff Spaaaarrrrdaaaaa. _The creature said behind him, Dante ignored it and continued to encourage his partner.

"Nero, what about Kyrie? What would she think if you just gave up like this, you've got to fight through it, for her." _This _got a reaction, tears welled up in the teen's eyes and he took a step back, sliding off Rebellion and collapsing to his knees, choking and crying as he started to heal, both mentally and physically.

"Nero's not a kid you can just mess with," Dante sneered as he reengaged the now furious monster behind him. "he's quite the firecracker, and has more stubborn pigheadedness than even his father. I think it just comes with the Sparda bloodline," The elder dodged a few tentacles, regaining more of his battle wit as things took on a more normal pace. "You kick us down and we come up swinging harder than ever." A tentacle grazed his cheek and the half devil hissed lightly as it healed.

_He is nothing more than a pup. A toy for a more powerful devil._ At these words Dante growled and Triggered, but what he didn't notice was Nero's face lift, an expression of pure fury on his face.

The monster didn't expect the fiery attack from his former pet, his former toy, he thought the boy would be incapacitated by shock and sadness for quite a while longer, instead the partial devil grabbed Red Queen from where she'd been amongst the leaves and Triggered, going double bladed at the monster in front of him.

To both of the slayer's horror when the monster was decapitated tentacles laced up and formed a new head. The decedents of Sparda's blood shared a quick sidelong glance and Dante went to town hacking at the back of the monster, chopping off as many tentacles as he could as Nero took it on from the front.

"Nero, now!" the elder yelled, Nero swung Yamato clean through the creature's neck and jabbed Red Queen into its heart, at first it chuckled, then the partial devil turned the handle and lit up the powerful blade. It easily lit fire, as though its body were made of dry leaves but its final words were what scared Nero the most.

_As long as man shall fear the dark, there shall be another…_

-Predator and Prey-

Dante watched as Nero collapsed to the ground and both of them raised their heads when two agonized screams met their ears.

"What was that?" Dante asked, Nero bit his lip, he didn't want to remember the time under the control of that monster but he did…

"That was the two others under that _thing's_ control." The teen paused for a second as though debating something and then promptly threw up, as though emptying his stomach would help to cleanse him. "They're too far gone to save…"

"You weren't…" the half devil said softly, he paused then rubbed his partner's back before offering him a hand up.

"Come on, we've still got some work to do, Natalie's back with her family, let's see if we can't help out these two as well." Nero took a deep breath then nodded, grabbing the elder's hand and rising to his feet. The two nodded to one another and then plowed into the forest, ready for whatever other surprises it held for them.

A/N: Holy. Shit. I've been working on this chappie like all day… I know that's kind of a weird ending for the story but honestly, I like leaving some things up to the reader to decide, this actually more typical of how I write my original works, the endings are a little more open. Anywho, I thought this was lots of fun, super-duper creepy, but fun, it was pretty cool to get into the proxies' heads and see things from their points of view. Now I think I'm gonna get going on more FoH cause… yeah I'm going to! It's been lots of fun guys! And I hope to see you in the crossover realm again soon!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


End file.
